Saint Augustine by the Sea Catholic Church is a parish of the Roman Catholic Church of Hawai‘i in the United States. It falls under
the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Honolulu and its bishop; it is staffed by the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and
Mary. Located at 130 Ohua Avenue, adjacent to Kalākaua Avenue in Waikīkī, Saint Augustine by the Sea ministers primarily to
visitors, as Waikīkī contains the highest number of domestic and international visitors in the State of Hawai‘i. The parish campus
is the home of the Father Damien Museum which houses several relics of Blessed Damien of Moloka‘i and related historical
artifacts. The current clerics of the parish include Father Lane K. Akiona, SS.CC., pastor, and Father Paul Zaccone, SS.CC.,
parochial vicar. Also Bro. James Dunn, is a current resident. The Church features many people to serve the lord, including the the
MC Zachary Tong.

Father Modestus Favens, SS.CC., was said to have built the first chapel in Waikīkī as early as 1854. The chapel was about twenty-
feet by forty-feet with a steeple. Mass was seldom said in this chapel - the predominant weekly activity was Sunday afternoon
devotions and religious instruction. In 1898, during the Spanish American War, many American soldiers were encamped near
Diamond Head. At their request, Msgr. Gulstan Ropert, SS.CC., authorized the first Mass for these soldiers in the chapel. The
chapel was deemed much too small for continued military use and a temporary wooden frame structure was erected by the military
authorities with a roof and open sides thatched with coconut palm fronds. Msgr. Ropert blessed the new structure and entrusted it
to the care of Father Valentin Franckx, SS.CC. Father Franckx later made improvements to the chapel by putting in flooring,
galvanized roofing and lattice walls. When the soldiers left, the community in Waikīkī continued to frequent the chapel on Sundays
when Father Valentin said Mass. Msgr. Ropert approved plans to build a more permanent church and in 1901, on the feast day of
Saint Augustine, he dedicated the new church under the title of its festal namesake, as the carpenters took a break while the
services were conducted. Waikīkī was being touted as a tourist destination and the number of parishioners and visitors continued
to grow. The church underwent enlargement in 1910, and 1925, essentially by cutting the building in two and moving the back to
the beach. In 1920, the church acquired a right-of-way access to Kalākaua Avenue.
History of St. Augustine's
Church by the Sea
CONTACT INFORMATION:
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Janice M. T. Bachiller
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